Five Lost Angels: My Husband's Fatal Deception novel Chapter 79

He pulled me into a warm hug, thanking God. Although that bullet slightly hit Leo’s heart, it was minimal damage, the size of the bullet and the distance of trajectory bought him enough time to survive.

“The doctors have successfully repaired the damage, Laura.”

Oh, my God!

This good news after the soul crushing misery of hours illuminated my world, relieving the heavy weight from my shoulders.

Feeling light like a feather, I buried my head in Bright’s chest and sighed.

“I can’t believe the height of our good luck tonight, Bright. Thank you so much for staying by my side.

I don’t know what I would do without you.”

It was a fact that Bright was the wise one among us, tackling the situation without giving in to any emotional trauma. He faced a real-life crisis with courage and bravery. His responsible nature made me realize that Bright was the man I could trust my family with.

Caressing my back, he asked the doctor about the recovery period and expressed his desire to see Leo. But he couldn’t get permission.

“Mr. Leo is in post-up recovery. We will keep him under observation for twenty-four hours before any family meeting.

You can …”

“He isn’t Mr. Leo’s family!”

Leo’s assistant, James, arrived at the hospital after everything, and cut that doctor off curtly.

“Mr. Leo is an orphan, and his wife has left him for his rival. He is a lonely man.”

What?

At this crucial moment, such an insensitive comment felt irrelevant, more than like a gaslighting tactic to spread rumors in the hospital. It was so unfortunate that Leo was surrounded by selfish jerks, whose prime focus was to blame others for publicity, with no care about his injuries at all.

Bright was all composed and calm until now, but he couldn’t keep cool after hearing those rude words about me. He shot back at James.

“Oh, so you think that you are Leo’s family, his most sincere well-wisher!

Where were you when he attempted suicide earlier?

Then he was shot, the news of the terrorists’ attack at his office building must have been in the news for hours.

If you were so concerned, then why didn’t you come before when I was begging every influential businessman to abandon his sleep and help me with his resources …”

Bright bluntly showed him the mirror of reality, dismissing James’s claim about us being heartless outsiders. His grip around my shoulders tightened, he snarled at Leo’s assistant.

“You should thank Laura instead of accusing her of cheating. She saved Leo’ life twice, not even thinking about her image and reputation once.

She …”

The doctors and nurses intervened to end this argument as James wasn’t backing off, he didn’t hesitate to point his finger at me.

“Mr. Leo is hospitalized for the second time only because of Miss Laura.

Firstly, I thought that she didn’t like my cooking, so I ordered pizza for her later. But Jane wasn’t interested in eating at all. Alarmed by her strange behavior, I sat down with her to talk.

“What’s the matter, Jane? Why didn’t you finish your lunch, dear?”

Jane’s gloomy face crept up a feeling of dread from the pit of my stomach, I felt helpless as she said,

“I am not hungry, mommy!”

Her innocent eyes were the mirrors of her soul, the tears pooling in them hinted towards a concealed unease, popping up countless horrifying scenarios in my head.

I barely appeared as a level-headed parent and spoke softly.

“Is there anything bothering you, Jane?

You can tell mommy. Remember, we are friends.”

Jane’s silence in response devastated me to the core, I made some odd guesses to assess the problem troubling her.

“Is there anything at school? Did someone bully you? Or did any teacher scold you?”

I bit my tongue when my unhinged speech reached the bad touch, it was impossible for me to imagine that someone had harmed my little girl.

After a series of assurances and gentle reminders, Jane spoke up, confiding in me.

“It’s Zoe, mommy. He is frightened of living alone.”